posted at 2:01 pm on May 31, 2013 by Allahpundit

The topline number: 24/68 on the question of whether the U.S. should “use military action to attempt to end the conflict.” The real news, though, is in the partisan split — specifically, the fact that there isn’t much of one. Rand Paul 1, McCain 0?

As this was breaking at Gallup this morning, the following was breaking at Reuters:

Security officials say lawless southern Libya has become the latest haven for al Qaeda-linked fighters after French-led forces drove them from strongholds in northern Mali this year, killing hundreds.

“The south of Libya is what the north of Mali was like before,” said a senior adviser to Mali’s interim President Diouncounda Traore, asking not to be named.

Niger has said last week’s suicide raids, which killed 25 people at the army base and desert uranium mine run by France’s Areva, were launched from Libya. Amid growing tensions between the two countries, Libya has denied this…

“As much as the West may wish to leave the problem to Africans, it cannot,” said Vicki Huddleston, a former U.S. ambassador to Mali. “Islamists will continue to fight until defeated by the region working together and supported by Western governments.”

The next intervention in Syria may have to wait, in other words, because we’ll be too busy re-intervening in Libya to help clean up the mess left by the Qaddafi power vacuum. And the longer the Syrian intervention waits, the harder it becomes (which has been one of McCain’s few good points in all this). The AP reported this morning that MiG plans to sell 10 new fighters to Assad, which undercuts Russia’s claim that it’s only interested in providing defensive weaponry to the regime. Other advanced weapons may yet be on the way as Putin doubles down on protecting his client. Maybe that’s part of O’s reasoning in delaying — the more time he takes to decide on intervening, the bigger the challenge gets, and thus the stronger the argument for not intervening at all becomes.

One footnote on the Gallup numbers. The -44 split on intervention is, I believe, the widest gap in any poll taken on this subject, a sign perhaps that the public’s trending away from action in Syria as the McCain-ians beat the Do Something drum more loudly. If you look at the numbers over time at Polling Report, though, you’ll see that when pollsters mention Assad using chemical weapons, the numbers look different. A Pew poll taken last month found a 45/31 split on whether the U.S. should act militarily if chemical attacks by the regime are confirmed; two weeks ago, CNN got a 66/30 split on basically the same question. There are news reports published as recently as yesterday that Assad’s begun to use chemical weapons more frequently due to the west’s inaction over previous attacks. If Obama does end up deciding that it’s time for a no-fly zone, expect him to hammer the WMD point heavily as a way of building popular support. Realistically, it’s the only way he can sell intervention to the public.

Wasn’t there a report very recently that the Turks seized Sarin gas from the opposition? If Assad using gas generates an increase in interest, how about Al Nusra using it?

If we were going to intervene, it should have been a couple of years ago. We have enough tyrants here at home that need to be dealt with. Let Assads butchers and Al Qaedas butcher slaughter each other all they want.

The AP reported this morning that MiG plans to sell 10 new fighters to Assad, which undercuts Russia’s claim that it’s only interested in providing defensive weaponry to the regime.

Not really. Fighters are also defensive weapons when used to protect the homeland from enemy bombers and fighters, to oppose an enemy invading your airspace, to deny an enemy air superiority over your airspace. It is also a defensive weapon when used as a fighter bomber to attack invading ground forces.

If we really wanted to help and believed in fundamental human rights, we would purchase every black market AK we could lay our hands on and air drop them to the people in Syria: farms, homes, as many as could be dropped into town squares and suburbs… with lots and lots of ammo.

So far the two sides are:

– The Tyrant.

– The ‘rebels’ aka MB and aQ supporters.

Those unarmed? The average person of Syria who lives in a police state or under the threat of terrorists. The poor and oppressed. You know, the people Lefties usually have bleeding hearts about? Ship them as much in the way of arms as possible and let them fight for what they think is right.

It might be the Tyrant, although the amount of score-settling will probably nix that.

It might be the MB/aQ terrorists. Doubtful as you would be exchanging one form of tyranny for another.

Or some bright folks might figure out that the enemy of my enemy is my enemy’s enemy and they deserve each other, with a bit of armed kibbitzing as they are BOTH enemies of the people. It is far better than doing nothing as it puts us down as supporting a fundamental right to be heard and to protect oneself. It means no military involvement beyond airdrops and letting events play out with everyone well armed. And it drains the black market of AKs, which would be a good thing and actually get them out of the loss-leader column and worth something, making getting them on the black market a more expensive affair.

Considering they go $150/AK up to $350 for semi-decent used ones, a couple of billion ought to do it. Plus some cargo hauling by the USAF for the air drops of ‘humanitarian aid’. More expensive than doing nothing, but far cheaper than sending our troops over. Some Nations might complain, but we can point out how Syria let aQ and other less savory sorts get free passage to Iraq to go after our troops… and we aren’t even doing that much, just arming the Syrian people which, really, if the regime is so beloved it should WELCOME that. Ditto MB and aQ.

Who knows, Syrians might even get a chance to do something better once they’ve killed off the hot heads. That lovely tree needs some watering, you know?

“I think basically for the last three or four weeks the skeptics have been proven to be too skeptical. The naysayers who said it could never happen, it’s going to be violent, his departure would mean the Muslim Brotherhood taking over or total chaos in the streets of Egypt, they have been proven wrong. And the notion that the Egyptian people have managed to pull off this democratic, peaceful removal of a dictator, and now have a seemingly a pretty stable situation in the streets of Cairo and the other big cities, with the guarantee or at least a promise of a transition to free and fair elections and no real sense that those elections are — yet that the elections are going to go in some terrible direction for the U.S. or for Egypt itself.

I think this may be a case where the normal worldly pessimism is too pessimistic and the normal cynicism is too cynical, and one has a right to actually be hopeful about these developments in Egypt.”

If Obama does end up deciding that it’s time for a no-fly zone, expect him to hammer the WMD point heavily as a way of building popular support. Realistically, it’s the only way he can sell intervention to the public.

After he heavily criticized and condemned GWB for intervening in Iraq and toppling Saddam for the same reason?

Will he have JF’n Kerry address the UN in a special session to lay out his evidence of chemical weapons use before destroying Assad’s air defense system and air force, and before imposing an expensive no-fly zone for what could be a very, very long time? You know, to head off those “Obama lied, people died” claims that will inevitably come from the anti-war left, especially if he doesn’t offer up sufficient “proof”, right?

The Orwellian spin-meisters in the WH will have to work extra extra hard to get a skeptical public to swallow that blatant hypocrisy.

Let me give it a try — We have always been at war with Syria, at least ever since we declared it a state sponsor of terrorism. We must topple Assad to make sure his WMDs do not fall into the hands of terrorists. Nah, that won’t work. There is no war on terrorism. Besides, it’s the terrorists who are trying to topple Assad and they could get their hands on his WMDs once he is gone.

The Orwellian spin-meisters in the WH will have their work cut out for them. But at least they won’t have to worry as much about three different scandals. So it could be worth it.

A top Department of Justice lawyer warns that posting offensive material on Islam will have legal repercussions.
Judicial Watch reported – via Ace:

In its latest effort to protect followers of Islam in the U.S. the Obama Justice Department warns against using social media to spread information considered inflammatory against Muslims, threatening that it could constitute a violation of civil rights.

The move comes a few years after the administration became the first in history to dispatch a U.S. Attorney General to personally reassure Muslims that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is dedicated to protecting them. In the unprecedented event, Attorney General Eric Holder assured a San Francisco-based organization (Muslim Advocates) that urges members not to cooperate in federal terrorism investigations that the “us versus them” environment created by the U.S. government, law enforcement agents and fellow citizens is unacceptable and inconsistent with what America is all about.

“Muslims and Arab Americans have helped build and strengthen our nation,” Holder said after expressing that he is “grateful” to have Muslims as a partner in promoting tolerance, ensuring public safety and protecting civil rights. He also vowed to strengthen “crucial dialogue” between Muslim and Arab-American communities and law enforcement.

Evidently that was a precursor of sorts for an upcoming Tennessee event (“Public Disclosure in a Diverse Society”) that will feature the region’s top DOJ official, who serves as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, and an FBI representative. The goal is to increase awareness and understanding that American Muslims are not the terrorists some have made them out to be in social media and other circles, according to a local newspaper report. The June 4 powwow is sponsored by the American Muslim Advisory Council of Tennessee.

The area’s top federal prosecutor, Bill Killian, will address a topic that most Americans are likely unfamiliar with, even those well versed on the Constitution; that federal civil rights laws can actually be violated by those who post inflammatory documents aimed at Muslims on social media. “This is an educational effort with civil rights laws as they play into freedom of religion and exercising freedom of religion,” Killian says in the local news story. “This is also to inform the public what federal laws are in
effect and what the consequences are.”

Yes, we are opposed to helping out more haters of the USA. But I am sure the MICD’ohbama regime is looking for something to replace Afghanistan a distraction from their ongoing and increasing scandals.

They are absolutely CONSISTENT in their abject hatred and disregard for the Bill of Rights.

Resist We Much on May 31, 2013 at 2:59 PM

What almost everyone forgets about Benghazi is that the Obama Administration planned to use the events at Benghazi to assault the First Amendment. This angle needs investigating as much as everything else about Benghazi needs investigated.

I mean what’s not to like about a religion founded by a propet that “married” a 7 year old and preaches that anyone that does not believe in beating women, screwing men as victory peices of a$%, blowing up infidels and non beleivers for 72 vestial virgins and not educating half your population is the basis of a great society.

The problem we have here is, since when has this run amok government listened to the American people. They do the bidding of the ruling class. But then, the American people have the government they voted for or better yet the government they did not vote against. Voter apathy is in direct ratio to the present crop of politicians we have today.

Yes, intervention/rebuilding worked with Japan… but that seems more the “exception that proves the rule” than evidence we can do it again. I certainly doubt we can successfully do it in the Middle East.

We can break people down into three categories:
1) Learn from history and the experience of others… best to avoid mistakes.
2) Learn from personal experience… the burned hand teaches best.
3) Politicians… constantly repeating failed plans without learning.

Senator McCAIN: “Yes Mr. President, I really laid it on heavy to go into Syria. He He He.

Did I look crazy enough?

Thank you…yes, it is about the dumbest foreign policy idea someone could advocate at this time and will keep the Republicans set as a nutty pro-war party for you. Oh no problem..no problem at all, I saw that the wacko birds were starting to take some of your isolationist base and I’m glad to help.

This was tricky since an intervention makes no sense and I couldn’t play the race card like I did when I took the fall deliberately in the election of ’08. You know, not mentioning Reverend Wright was really tough when your people were dragging all that dirt out about me and a couple of other Republicans.

(pause) The media did help, Mr. President, sir. Except for that Hannity and Limbaugh! If we could just shut them up!

From them, .. you know…your rumored drug use, your lack of paperwork…it was touch and go I tell you.

Yes, having the memory of Goldfish and the IQ if plants, the public forgot all about it in time for you to slam Mitt for stuff he did 50 years earlier like cutting a kid’s hair.

I don’t necessarily oppose aiding the jihadists. Right now the Ruskies and the Iranians are arming up the Asadists. We don’t want to Asadists or the Jihadists to prevail. Perpetual war between the two is the best solution for all.

Johnny Yuma was a rebel
He roamed through the west
Did Johnny Yuma, the rebel
He wandered alone
…
Fightin’ mad
This rebel lad
With a dream he’d hold
‘Til his dyin’ breath
He’d search his soul
And gamble with death
The rebel, Johnny Yuma
(Johnny Cash)

The U.S. ABSOLUTELY has an option of ‘NO’ Option! A ‘No Fly Zone’…really?! We are going to arm more Al Qaeda / Islamic Extremist Rebels to help overthrow the dictator we once helped put into power, the leader of a nation that is Iran’s ‘toadie’, responsible for cunneling weapons to Hezbollah & other enemies of Israel, embracers of the highly oppressive & definitely NOT tolerant Sharia Law. That worked SO well in Libya, right? Our ‘support’ to the terrorist organization The Muslim Brotherhood has worked ut so well, also, hasn’t it? Hey, if our new foreign policy, which seems to involve kissing terrorist / extremist @$$ & helping them overthrow nations so they can have their own, continues to be ‘successful’ perhaps we can help them overthrow Bahrain, Joran, Saudi, and even Israel. Perhaps Obama believes if there is no one alive to resist / oppose (extremist) Islam then we will finally have complete and utter obedience tolerance and peace.